Authors:

Neil Anderson
(Joint Quantum Institute, NIST and University of Maryland)

Swarnav Banik
(Joint Quantum Institute, NIST and University of Maryland)

Monica Gutierrez
(Joint Quantum Institute, NIST and University of Maryland)

Avinash Kumar
(Joint Quantum Institute, NIST and University of Maryland)

Hector Sosa
(Joint Quantum Institute, NIST and University of Maryland)

Stephen Eckel
(NIST)

Gretchen Campbell
(Joint Quantum Institute, NIST and University of Maryland)

One of the major challenges in an ultracold atom experiment is the
production of the atomic beam for laser cooling. Atomic species of recent
interest such as Er, Dy, Cr present a particular challenge in that they
require very high temperatures (upwards of 1000 C) to produce vapor
pressures suitable for the generation of a thermal atomic beam. In recent
experiments, this challenge has been addressed by using a commercial oven in
conjunction with a Zeeman slower. Here we present progress towards an
inductive oven for Er. Inductive heating, as opposed to resistive heating,
offers the distinct advantage of heating the sample directly, eliminating
the need for bulky water cooling stages of conventional high temperature
ovens. Additionally, the inductive oven's compact design enables it to serve
as a transverse source in a two species 2D MOT setup.